Further to your item on “Small-Car Progress” (pp1198-1200), it is interesting to add in the necessary factors for inflation — based on the Retail Price index — bearing in mind that wages and salaries have generally more than kept pace with inflation.

The current “RI’!, according to Government sources, is around 352: having been set at 100 in January 1974, so in other words on item costing £1.00 in January 1974 should now cost £3.52. Based on this, 1974, figure the RI’! in 1925 was 19.6 and 1930 was 17.6 (source: Whitaker’s Almanac). Say 1927 was 18.5. This gives an overall inflation factor between 1927 and 1984 of: 10//Is so 352=1902% i.e. a factor of 19.

The attached table compares 1927 actual, 1927 prices in 1984 terms and 1984 actual. On this basis even road tax at £90 is a bargain;!) and a cover price of 80 pence becomes only 10.7d (old pence of course). riTax L4 705 L89 40 1152

The Hotel looks expensive!

It is for these reasons that the Government in a recent White Paper (Cmnd 9300) shows that motoring costs (including car purchase) in increased in real terms by only 3% between 1972 and 1983. Whalley A. N. WICKENS AtTu’o71 “T9IN 0.95 20 90 2, 18 1.90 10.45 0AI .125 2.375 I tem re Meek Hotel Fter Oil Toll Meal. Castk 200 0.4S 185 05 11,1A’ 62 18 ALI-118:1 3100 5.00 11 6 50 32 03t, 10 08 E62.97 i90